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E. I.2.1.i. General Overviews

Bratton, Michael ; van de Walle, Nicolas, Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transition in Comparative Perspective, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 333

A broad-ranging analysis by two experts in the field, drawing on the democratization literature, but focused on African realities.
Diamond, Larry ; Plattner, Marc F., Democracy in Africa: Progress and Retreat, Baltimore MD, John Hopkins Press, 2010, pp. 360

Collection of relevant articles in the Journal of Democracy.
Gros, Jean-Germain, Democratization in Late Twentieth Century Africa: Coping with Uncertainty, Westport CT and London, Greenwood Press, 1998, pp. 162

Contributors to this book include democracy activists as well as scholars, who look critically at the process of democratization in: Malawi, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana and Gabon. The focus is not on institutions but on leadership, and also on the role of the military and churches in the reform process.
Ihonvbere, Julius O., Where is the Third Wave? A Critical Evaluation of Non-Transitions to Democracy, Africa Today, Vol. 43, issue 4 (Oct-Dec), 1996, pp. 343-377

Joseph, Richard, Africa: The Rebirth of Political Freedom, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 2, issue 1 (Fall), 1991, pp. 11-25

Joseph, Richard, Conflict and Democracy in Africa, Boulder CO, Lynne Rienner, 1999, pp. 527

Wide-ranging collection of comparative essays on democratic transitions, the state and economic and social factors. Considers developments since the early 1990s and degrees of democracy achieved (in Benin and Zambia), continuing obstacles to democracy and ‘second elections’.
Lemarchand, Rene, Africa’s Troubled Transitions, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 3, issue 4 (Fall), 1993, pp. 98-109

Nugent, Paul, Africa Since Independence: A Comparative History, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, pp. 620

especially ch. 9 ‘Democracy Rediscovered: Popular Protest, Elite mobilization and the Return of Multipartyism’, pp. 368-433.
Olukoshi, Adebayo, The Politics of Opposition in Contemporary Africa, Uppsala, Nordiska Afikrainstitutet, 1998, pp. 328

Contributors assess the efforts and problems of oppositions in difficult circumstances, and also consider issues of leadership and organization. The book includes case studies of Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe.